Neil McDevitt (00:23):
Hello. Good afternoon everyone. My name is Neil McDevitt. I’m from North Wales, Pennsylvania. I’m the mayor for the Borough of North Wales. Today we celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act, Disability Pride, and Deaf Awareness Month. We are here today to celebrate the victories of the people who fought for our human and civil rights and prepare ourselves for the ongoing challenges that lay ahead. I’m deaf. I was born in 1973, extremely prematurely, and I became deaf when I received too much oxygen. I was adopted by two wonderful parents, Neil and Susan, and they decided that we would chart our own path as a family, and they decided that we would use sign language as our primary method of communication. A lot of parents of deaf children still don’t know sign language. And so, for most of my child, my mother actually signed better than I did.
(01:45)
Like many of you, I woke up one morning with rights I did not go to bed with. The Americans with Disabilities Act made millions of Americans first-class citizens in our communities overnight. It was that momentous day on July 26th, 1990, right here at the White House, that those rights were signed into law and it’s a direct line from that day, July 26th, to me being here standing before you as the first deaf person to be directly elected as mayor in the United States. I’m proud to say that this administration has been steadfast in their fight to eliminate the barriers we face daily. President Biden and Vice President Harris have had our backs from day one. It’s my honor and privilege to introduce President Joe Biden.
(03:12)
Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much.
President Joe Biden (03:24):
Well thank you, Mayor Neil McDevitt. Neil is, as he said, from North Wales Borough outside of Philly, almost in heaven, heading towards Scranton. Neil is the first deaf person ever elected mayor in the history of our nation. You’re also a proud alum of one of the nation’s great universities, and I’ve spoken there several times, Gallaudet University here in Washington, D.C. That’s real. The first university in the world exclusively for deaf and hard of hearing persons. Its charter was signed 160 years ago, in the middle of the Civil War, by President Abraham Lincoln who said everyone deserves, and I quote, “a fair chance in the race of life”. A fair chance in the race of life. Folks, that’s the idea, that’s why we’re here today. A special thanks to the current and former members of Congress here today who are some of the most important champions of disability rights in American history and around the world.
(04:35)
First person I’d like to recognize is my buddy, Tammy Duckworth. Tammy not only has a heart as big as her head, but God love her, she’s a genuine, genuine war hero. You’re incredible, Tammy. You’re incredible. And my good friend, and he is a good friend, he won’t acknowledge it, but you know I like him, I love him too, Steny Hoyer. Steny represents the western shore of Delaware. I kid him all the time. Former Representative Tony Coelho. Tony. I was bragging about Tony today. It’s been a long time we’ve known each other, my younger staff was asking about him, and when he walked up and gave me a hug, I said, “God, he does know him.” See you in [inaudible 00:05:29], Tony. And Jim, where are you, Jim? Jim Langerman. Jimmy, thank you pal. A man who not only overcame a disability but has had a profound impact on the House of Representatives. And Congressman Steve Cohen. Steve, good to see you pal. And Mark DeSaulnier. Mark, where are you? There you go, Mark. Good to see you buddy.
(05:54)
And a big thanks to the hundreds of advocates who work every day to ensure people with disabilities can live and thrive in their community, not just live but thrive. One of my first acts as United States senator was co-sponsoring the Rehabilitation Act, one of the most consequential civil rights laws in our nation’s history, which banned discrimination on the basis of disability. No disability could be not looked at in any program that was funded by the federal government, promoted equal access to communities, authorized independent living services and so much more. The Rehabilitation also laid the groundwork for a landmark law we celebrate here today, the Americans with Disabilities Act. Steny and Tony, they led the charge in the House of Representatives. I mean it sincerely, led the charge along with Major Owens, and Tom Harkin and Bob Dole led it in the Senate.
(07:05)
I was a kid but I was proud to be a co-sponsor of the Senate. Right here in this lawn, 34 years ago, president George H.W. Bush signed it into law proving we can work together in a bipartisan fashion to ensure the American Dream is available to all of us, not just some of us. We got to get back to those days. Today, more than three decades after ADA’s passage, many of us can still recall an America where a person with disabilities could be denied service in a restaurant or grocery store, where an employer could refuse to interview or hire you because of a disability. But for more than 61 million Americans living with disabilities, these laws are a source of opportunity, respect and pride and dignity now. Dignity. My dad used to say that’s the single most important thing people deserve, treated with dignity.
(08:04)
But of course, these laws did not bring an end to the work we need to do. That’s why Kamala and I have been so determined to move our nation forward for Americans living with disabilities, for transforming the way the economy works for all American. For example, people with disabilities are working more than ever did before. And my short term, our short term going to be long term for Kamala I hope, a record 16 million jobs were created, but of those 16 million, 2.2 million jobs were people with disabilities, the highest unemployment rate on record. Wages are up. In fact, the median household income for disabled Americans is up $10,000 since Kamala and I came to office. The Labor Department is protecting workers with disability and fighting unjust employment practices. We’re also helping state and local governments and businesses and nonprofits access federal funds to hire more disabled Americans, access federal to hire more disabled Americans.
(09:26)
And we’re going to continue to make sure this administration looks like America, appointing people with disabilities to positions throughout our government, throughout this government. With your partnership, we’re improving access to healthcare and home care. Before, some doctors and hospitals actually were denying medical treatment related to organ donations and life-saving care for disabled Americans based simply on their disability alone… Sorry, the sun’s shining… That’s why the Department of Health and Human Services issued a rule barring those kinds of denials for medical treatment, because no American, I said no American should be deprived of healthcare that they need. We’re also continuing long COVID clinical trials, and our new agency, ARPA-H, is driving breakthroughs on biomedicine to prevent, detect and treat diseases including cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases like MS and Alzheimer’s. Look folks, our American Rescue Plan provided $37 billion, 37 billion for all of the states to expand home care and community-based services.
(10:52)
By the way, I need not tell this audience it really matters. It really matters, under Medicare, so people with disabilities, including intellectual and developmental disabilities can live independently at home. Not only best for them, but best for the economy. And a decade since the ADA, we’re fighting big pharma to give Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices for seniors and people with disabilities, finally. Finally. Finally. And thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, we finally beat big pharma. Steny and I were fighting them back when we were young members of the Congress. Well, guess what? We finally beat them. We’ve capped the cost of insulin for seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare who have diabetes at $35 a month instead of up to $400 a month. And starting this January, the total out-of-pocket prescription cost anyone will have to pay that falls in those categories is $2,000 a year. People with disabilities on Medicare, even expensive drugs like cancers that cost 10, 12, 14 a year will not have to pay more than 2,000 a year for everything, every single drug.
(12:11)
Part of that deal, we also negotiated lower cost for the 10 most expensive prescription drugs that treat everything from heart disease to arthritis, which goes in effect in January. And from that point on, every year, 10 new drugs will be negotiated going forward every single year. And by the time our reform not only saves seniors and people with disabilities money, they save the taxpayers $160 billion, $160 billion just for the first passing because Medicare no longer has to pay those exorbitant prices to big pharma. And the savings for American taxpayers is only going to go up. Kamala and I want you to know that we want the best economy where we need the best caregiving economy in the world. [inaudible 00:13:01] I mean it. That’s why I took historic executive action to expand access to high quality care, provide support for care workers and for our nation’s 53 million family caregivers. They’ll now receive support.
(13:16)
By the way, and to make public transit in our country accessible to everyone, our bipartisan infrastructure law invests $6.75 billion, making the biggest investment ever in transportation accessibility, adding more wheelchair ramps, accessible restrooms, more airport, rail stations and other transit locations. The Justice Department established standards for state and local governments to make websites and mobile apps more accessible so people with disabilities can travel from work to school, making learning more accessible and being able to vote. And something Kamala and I are really proud of, we celebrate disability pride. Pride. That’s what all of you embody. I really mean it from the bottom of my heart, you embody. That’s what we witnessed in the past two weeks when we’ve seen watching Team USA compete in the Paralympics in Paris.
(14:23)
Weren’t they incredible? I mean it, really, absolutely mind-blowing. And thank you all from the bottom of my heart for showing me what to do to ensure that the promise of America is lived to all Americans so that everyone, I mean this truly, everyone has a fair chance in the race of life. That’s all we’re asking for. Everyone has a fair chance in the race of life. We just have to remember who in the hell we are. I mean it sincerely, we’re the United States of America and there’s nothing, I mean it sincerely, there’s nothing beyond our capacity when we set our mind to it and do it together. And let’s get everything moving faster. God bless you all, and may God protect our troops. I’m so proud to be with you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Distinguished guests, this concludes the remarks portion of this program. Please make your way toward the Kennedy Garden for the reception.